Drake Drops iHeartMedia Lawsuit And Accepts Settlement After Learning They Weren't in 'Wrong'; Here's What Happened

Drake has withdrawn his petition against iHeartMedia after reaching a settlement, shifting his legal focus to Universal Music Group (UMG). Here's everything you need to know.

Written by Sakina Kaukawala , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 05, 2025 | 10:19 AM IST | 19.3K

Drake (via Getty Images)

Toronto rapper Drake has officially withdrawn his petition against iHeartMedia after reaching a settlement with the media company.

The move comes after iHeartMedia provided documents showing they had no involvement in an alleged pay-to-play scheme linked to Kendrick Lamar’s song Not Like Us. Drake, however, is continuing his legal battle against Universal Music Group (UMG).

Drake initially filed a petition against iHeartMedia and UMG in November 2024, alleging that the companies engaged in a scheme to promote Not Like Us on the radio.

He claimed that UMG funneled payments to iHeartMedia to artificially boost the song's airplay, damaging his reputation. However, on March 3, Rolling Stone reported that iHeartMedia had been removed from the case.

According to a company source, "In exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition. No payments were made by either one of us.” Court records obtained by USA Today confirmed that iHeartMedia is no longer part of Drake’s legal pursuit.

Despite the resolution, Drake’s team disputed iHeartMedia’s statement. A representative told Hot New HipHop, "iHeart has not provided a single document as of yet to Drake, let alone any information that showed they did nothing wrong."

iHeartMedia later responded, saying, "This back and forth is silly. Drake dropped the petition. We did nothing wrong. End of story.”

The court documents officially stated that Drake and iHeartMedia had reached an amicable resolution of the dispute to the satisfaction of both sides. The settlement was done with prejudice, meaning Drake cannot refile the petition against iHeartMedia in the future.

While iHeartMedia is no longer involved, Drake is still pursuing legal action against UMG. His Texas petition remains active, accusing the record label of knowingly promoting a song that he claims falsely labeled him a "certified ped*phile." Drake also filed a separate defamation lawsuit in New York against UMG in January 2025.

UMG has requested the Texas petition to be dismissed, with a deadline to file their motion set for March 16. Meanwhile, the pretrial hearing for the defamation case was originally scheduled for April 2, but UMG tried to postpone it.

Drake’s legal team opposed the delay, arguing that it would be unfair to their client, who they claim is still dealing with the impact of UMG’s alleged defamatory actions.